Want to make sure you’re booking the right hotel? Coo Boutique’s vetted collection guarantees you will.

The Problem
TripAdvisor and countless online reviews and forums overpopulate the internet, making planning a trip completely overwhelming and nerve-racking. Larger travel sites such as Expedia have over 500 hotels in New York City alone. Between clicking through a hotel’s website for pictures, scanning opinion sites for reviews, and reading from publication websites for the best local sights and restaurants, it can be information overload.

The Cure
www.CooBoutique.com, the newest and most discerning online luxury travel site, was formed as an antidote to this overload. Instead of spending hours combing the web for the best information for a trip, it’s already in one place. Coo Boutique selects only the best hotels for its collection, accentuated by beautiful images, member reviews, and local city guides. The collection is carefully curated by an A-list roster of editors and advisors hailing from Travel + Leisure, Town & Country, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal and an advisory board of travel world veterans formerly with Abercrombie and Kent, American Express, and several hotel groups.

These experts have advised on a streamlined list of luxury hotels and the perfect, succinct city guides to go with them, full of insider information on the best places to eat, shop, and sight see (over 50 new guides coming this year). For instance, visitors to New York can avoid tourist traps by heading to the chicest restaurants and bars, just like a local.

Criteria
First and foremost, to even be considered as a Coo Boutique hotel, the property must have unparalleled service. Coo Boutique selects its properties by speaking to experts and fellow travelers and performing site inspections where they evaluate every aspect, from check-in to room service, dining to amenities. There is no fee for hotels to belong in the Coo collection, so no hotel can buy its way in. Booking through Coo Boutique assures a seamless travel experience and none of the let-down of arriving at a disappointing, internet-lauded hotel. Coo Boutique is constantly reviewing its hotels and looking for feedback. Hotels that don’t meet the standard are immediately removed. Coo Boutique offers a limited collection to bring you only the most fabulous hotels and resorts in the world.

Man with the Plan
Coo Boutique was born out of founder Tushar Roy’s own frustrations with finding the right hotel. An avid traveler though not in the business, Roy rounded up his travel contacts for the collective wisdom of experts in the industry and in media along with his own research to assemble the perfect list.

If you’ve ever dreamed of cruising around the world, your dreams are about to get even better! Explore legendary lands and idyllic isles on Crystal Serenity’s 2012 World Cruise, a 94-day round-trip Los Angeles journey circumnavigating the world’s greatest ocean. Best of all, the sailing already has quite the guest list, and includes TV legend Regis Philbin, Hall of Famers Hank Aaron (baseball) and Don Shula (football), Olympians Dorothy Hamill (ice skating) and Kathy Rigby (gymnastics), and astronauts “Hoot” Gibson and Rhea Seddon. So start the New Year off right by making your dreams come true and booking your world cruise with Crystal Cruises.

With temperatures dipping below freezing and a snowstorm in October, it’s no secret that winter came much too soon. While we can’t control the weather, we can certainly run from it! Ditch the snow boots, pack your warm weather gear and escape with top luxury line, Crystal Cruises, instead.

Voted World’s Best more than any other cruise line in history, Crystal Cruises offers a diverse collection of itineraries exploring the Panama Canal, South America, Caribbean, and the Pacific Coast. Book before December 31, 2011 and receive up to $4,000 per couple in additional savings! But hurry, Crystal Cruises’ Book Now Fares don’t last forever.

Other exclusive offers, available for a limited time, include 2-for-1 fares, special savings for repeat Crystal Society guests, families and friends traveling together, new-to-Crystal savings, early full payment savings, and generous savings for back-to-back combination cruises. So, pull out your bathing suits and sun block, put away your hats and gloves, and book now to save!

Dying to intermingle with top film makers, talented movie stars, and the glamorous set? Hit the red carpet of the 2011 Abu Dhabi Film Festival! Since its debut in 2007, the eleven-day event has showcased the Arab world’s distinctive film culture as well as many international films. Festival goers will enjoy everything from romantic comedies to darker documentaries exposing the real societal issues affecting the Arab world. As a supplement to the film screenings, the festival offers master classes and workshops with top industry professionals like Todd Solondz, May Odeh, and Abderrahmane Sissako.

(Photo courtesy of http://www.abudhabifilmfestival.ae/)

Following the success of its inaugural art exhibit earlier this summer, Royal Mansour Marrakech is showcasing another local artist, Youssef Titou.  The exhibit, entitled Fragments of Space, opens on October 1 and will be on display through November 30. Titou uses an assortment of techniques to create his exceptionally evocative and abstract images that are based on the elements of space.

Titou, a native of Fez, follows the showcase of French-Moroccan photographer, Leila Alaoui.  Royal Mansour will continue to welcome the country’s top artists bimonthly, providing a unique platform to showcase their works.

These temporary exhibits join the hotel’s permanent art collection of over 80 contemporary Moroccan artists. The artwork is dotted among the hotel’s public spaces and private riads, seamlessly blending with the property’s stunning Moroccan décor.

For more information about Royal Mansour Marrakech, please visit their new website, www.royalmansour.com.

While officially launching January, 2012, this September the Park Hyatt hotel brand begins the transformation of its acclaimed Masters of Food & Wine event into the new Park Hyatt ‘masters’, a global series of seasonally- and locally-inspired culinary weekend workshops that will take place four times per year at the change of the seasons. Through engaging and interactive programming, both resident and visiting gourmands and oenophiles can become ‘masters’ of regional cuisine. The new Park Hyatt ‘masters’ will preview its fresh philosophy and lighter programming across 19 Park Hyatt hotels internationally during the weekend of September 23, 2011. The official launch of Park Hyatt masters in January 2012, and all future quarterly Park Hyatt masters programs, will take place on the same date at all Park Hyatt hotels worldwide.

Led by Park Hyatt chefs and sommeliers, masters-in-training will learn about top-notch, seasonal cuisine in three hands-on ‘courses’ on the designated day:

In the Field: Interaction with artisanal food or beverage purveyors

In the Kitchen: Onsite cooking and prep workshops

In the Moment: Tips on service and presentation

“Our guests actively request one-of-a-kind, culturally rich experiences that have a take-home element, particularly in food and beverage,” says Achim Lenders, vice president of food and beverage, international, for Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. “It is a natural evolution to transform our Park Hyatt Masters event into something more simple and interactive; pairing guests with local chefs and vintners to become masters themselves, and letting guests see the destination through local eyes.”

Individual hotel itineraries showcasing regional produce and producers during the September preview include:

• Park Hyatt Zurich will host a Swiss grape harvest, a workshop on Switzerland’s female winemakers, and a boat trip across Lake Zurich to a winery for a bottling lesson and picnic.
• Park Hyatt Aviara Resort in Southern California will start the day with a farmer’s breakfast, then a visit Carlsbad Aquafarm where participants will meet the resort’s seafood purveyor, followed by a local wine and cheese tasting.
• Park Hyatt Mendoza will host an interactive cooking class with special recipes created for it based on a signature olive oil produced in a nearby grove exclusively for the hotel’s restaurant.
• Park Hyatt Maldives will take guests by boat to a nearby island to meet a local grower and after selecting ingredients, they will head back to the resort, first stopping to fish for their dinner in the waters surrounding Hadahaa Island. The day concludes with a chef-led cooking class on traditional Maldivian cuisine using the fresh ingredients collected that day.

The quarterly Park Hyatt masters events will take place around the turn of each season on the weekends of January 13-15, March 23-25, June 24-26 and September 21-23, 2012. All classes will be limited in size to ensure maximum interaction for each master-to-be, which, depending on the property, will be between eight and 25 guests. Participating guests will be provided with recipes and/or tasting notes associated with their experience, and photos and videos of Park Hyatt masters demonstrations will be shared with the Park Hyatt masters community on the brand’s Facebook page – facebook.com/parkhyatt.

Participating Park Hyatt hotels for the preview of Park Hyatt masters in September (as of August 2011) include:

In North America – Aviara (Carlsbad, Calif.), Beaver Creek, Chicago, Toronto, Washington
In South America – Mendoza, Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt Buenos Aires
In Europe – Hamburg, Paris, Istanbul, Zurich
In Southwest Asia – Goa, Maldives
In the Middle East – Jeddah, Dubai
In Asia – Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Saigon

Workshop itineraries and pricing will vary from place to place and will be available to reserve directly through each hotel’s concierge. Beginning August 1, more details about the global program, the calendar of events, pricing and additions to participating properties will be available at www.mastersfoodandwine.com.

For those of us working in the travel industry, undoubtedly we’ve all been asked at one point or another by friends and family about our recent travels, travel advice, and generally where we like to go for our own personal vacations.  So we at AMPR decided to ask the same of our clients – some of the most well-traveled people we know! 

Kicking off a new AM/PM feature, we’re highlighting Mr. Simon Kerr, Group Commercial Director for COMO Hotels and Resorts.  When not jetsetting from company headquarters in London to properties in Bhutan, the Maldives, and Bali – to name a few! – Kerr leaps at the chance to travel.  Here he recounts a recent trip to Mykonos.

You’ve been where?

Mykonos – Greece

How Long?

One Week

And you decided to go there why?

It’s the only place that I choose to go back to.  This was my fourth time.  Mykonos ticks all the boxes for a fabulous Mediterranean vacation – great beaches, chic, understated, wonderful restaurants, nice crowd and as flashy, or low key as you want it to be.

Was it a family or other kind of vacation? Reunion? 

I went with a small group of friends for a 40^th birthday celebration

Where’d you stay and why did you like it? Hate it?  Anything that made you smile, go “wow,” jaded hotelier that you are?

We stayed at a small hotel called The Alkyon, which sits above Mykonos Town.  It was a great location, being only a 10-minute walk down the hill to the heart of things and within easy reach of the many fabulous beaches.  The hotel is pretty simple, but as with everything in Mykonos is understated (all buildings must be built in a tradition style, no more than two floors and painted in white and blue).  We hired quad bikes , which was a fun and convenient way to get around the island.  At the end of each day, we returned to our terrace for cocktails, and one of the best sunsets on the planet.

Most memorable bite?

We fell in love with a small restaurant in the heart of Mykonos Town, called Opa Taverna.  Nothing fancy – but good, honest Greek cuisine.  It also was where all the local shop keepers converged at the end of each night (and as they say – if it attracts the locals, it must be good).  A great atmosphere (aided by plenty of wine) always emerged.  We also love a small beach restaurant on Ornos Beach, called Constantis – wonderful grilled cuisine and fresh salads.  You also have to mention the famous Caprice Bar in Little Venice.  It offers the best Strawberry Daiquiris and sunset party in the Mediterranean.  The size of a postage stamp – but always great fun.

Any great retail experience?  Did you buy anything that you really don’t think you can buy at home?

Mykonos is teaming with wonderful boutiques and you can spend hours browsing the cobbled alley ways of Mykonos Town.  Not being a massive shopper – my discovery of the vacation was a beach I had not been to before.  Panormos Beach is on the north side of the island.  It was two wonderful beach restaurants and as it is not especially easy to get to, or on the more touristy south side of the island, attracts a stylish, cool, in the know crowd.  The sheltered bay is perfect for swimming, they scatter large, white cushions on the beach to lounge on and you can spend the day soaking up the sun, eating wonderful food and sipping delicious cocktails – heaven.

To die for view?  Gobsmacking scenery?   Sounds count too! 

The sunset from the Alkyon Hotel is hard to beat.  Alternatively head on down to Caprice for some fun.

Any new friends?

The animated Mykonos shop keepers that converged each night at Opa Taverna and of course the “beautiful people” that make Mykonos beaches world famous.

Anything you are reading that was so great you just holed up in your room and read?

Oh if only …

What didn’t you do that you would do next time?

As it’s my fourth time there – nothing!  The formula that Mykonos offers, as well as it being a small, easy to navigate island, makes it the perfect one week vacation to recharge your batteries.

And so where are you off to next?

The current list includes: Burma, the beaches of the Philippines, Utah, Ecuador, Costa Rica, the Ethiopian Highlands, Reunion, Croatia, Japan, and Syria.

Don’t leave home without what?

A camera and a spirit of adventure

Best vacation souvenir? 

My mid nineteenth century Burmese Buddha, which I picked up in Thailand

Share your best memory, please!

Sitting in Bodh Gaya in India on Christmas Day, watching 3,000 Tibetan Monks chanting around the tree where Buddha attained his enlightenment.

The days leading up to the holidays can be a stressful. What better way to unwind than some R&R on the beautiful shores of Mexico?

Crystal Cruises’ 10-day December Mexican Riviera cruise on Crystal Symphony is now on sale, with fares starting at just $1,995 per person. Departing December 11, the round-trip voyage from Los Angeles will make five stops in Mexico, giving you plenty of time to bask in the tranquility of sandy beaches and sapphire seas. Explore the picturesque cobblestone streets of Puerto Vallarta; spot sea lions basking in the sun on a boat excursion in Loreto; or get up close and personal with giant manta rays, whales, dolphins, and over 800 species of fish while snorkeling in La Paz. On board, experience the refined luxury and renowned service that led readers of Travel + Leisure to vote Crystal Cruises the World’s Best Large-Ship Cruise Line for a record-setting 16th year in a row.

Summer is in full swing, and as the temperature rises there is nothing more refreshing than sitting in a beautiful spot with a fun cocktail in hand. We’ve rounded up the best libations (with recipes) to fuel your summer sipping!

Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
Poirot-tini
Pining for a little intrigue and glamour? Sit back and enjoy the Vencie Simplon-Orient-Express’s signature cocktail, the Poirot-tini. Inspired by Agatha Christie’s famous character Hercule Poirot, this luxurious cocktail was created while David Suchet, the actor who portrays the suave detective, was aboard the train in 2009. Whether or not you are on your own voyage this summer, the creative combination of Cognac, Cointreau, and Champagne will transport your taste buds!

Recipe:
1/2 oz Cognac
1/4 oz Cointreau
3 drop Boker’s bitter or (Fernet, Angostura)
Top  with Champagne

Shake Cognac, Cointreau and Bitter. Pour in to a Martini glass and top with Champagne. Garnish with a Maraschino cherry and a twist of lemon.

Brant Point Grill at the White Elephant, Nantucket
Lobster Bloody Mary
The Bloody Mary dates all the way back to the sixteenth-century, and although there have been many adaptations of the traditional recipe over the years, the Brant Point Grill’s Lobster Bloody has got to be one of the most daring. Consisting of fresh poached lobster, spicy salt rim, chili pepper, and horseradish-infused Stoli vodka, along with Brant Point Grill’s classic Bloody Mary mix, you can eat your brunch and drink it too!

Recipe:
(Yields 4 servings)

1 quart Bloody Mary Mix (see recipe)
1 live 2 lb lobster
1 lemon
4 sprigs of parsley
4 oz Horseradish-Infused Vodka
4 oz Pepper-Infused Vodka
4 pint glasses filled with Ice
4 12” skewers

In a large pot bring one gallon of salted water to a boil.  Add the lobster and reduce the heat down to a simmer.  Cook the lobster for 10 minutes, remove from the water, and shock in cold water to cool the lobster rapidly.  Using a lobster cracker, carefully remove the meat.  This will yield one pound of lobster meat.  Divide this meat into four portions and set aside.

Cut the lemon into eight pieces.  Place two ounces of meat on the skewer then a lemon wedge; repeat.  This will complete one of the lobster skewers that will be used as a garnish.  Repeat with the other three skewers.  Set these aside in the refrigerator.

Ice down your four pint glasses and pour one ounce of each of the vodkas into each glass.  Top with the Brant Point Grill’s Bloody Mary Mix and stir.  Place the lobster skewer inside of the glass and top with the parsley.  Enjoy.  We like to dip the lobster into the cocktail for extra flavor.

Brant Point Grill Bloody Mary Mix
(Yields 4 servings)

1 quart of tomato juice
2 tbsp Brant Point Grill Steak Sauce (you may substitute your favorite steak sauce)
¼ tsp celery salt
1 lime, juiced
1 lemon juiced
¼ tsp Tabasco Sauce
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp grated fresh horseradish

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl or blender and mix until evenly distributed.

GoldenEye, Jamaica
The GoldenEye
Although you may not be spending your summer vacation under the Jamaican sun, this fresh, fruity cocktail will undoubtedly leave you with a little taste of the islands. Blackwell Rum and fresh pineapple, orange, and lime juices infuse The GoldenEye with a divine tropical flavor. Shaken, not stirred, the cocktail is made just how 007 would order it, and it is likely Bond might even forgo his typical martini for this lovely libation!

Recipe:
3 shots Blackwell Rum
2 shots Myers’s Rum
1 splash Angostura Bitters
2 shots simple syrup
1 shot lime juice
1 shot orange juice
1 shot pineapple juice
1 slice of orange
1 slice of pineapple

Combine all the ingredients in a blender with lots of ice. Blend until frozen and serve in a cocktail glass. Garnish with the orange and pineapple slices.

Hotel Parq Central, Albuquerque
L’ Orange Martini
Hotel Parq Central’s L’ Orange Martini packs a refreshing citrus punch that will cool you down and quench your thirst. The smooth combination of One Mandarin Blossom Vodka and fresh squeezed orange and lime juices will make this drink a staple at your summer happy hour.

Recipe:
1.5 oz. hangar One Mandarin Blossom Vodka
.5 oz Grand Marnier
Dash of Campari
Fresh squeeze of orange juice
Small squeeze of lime juice.

Squeeze the juice from a mandarin orange. Fill cocktail shaker with ice. Add vodka, orange juice, Campari, lime and Grand Marnier. Shake vigorously. Strain into cocktail glass and add a large amount of ice from the shaker. Garnish with fresh blueberries.

Met Bar, Metropolitan London
Fino Royal
Lewis Wilkinson, head bartender at the Met Bar, has whipped up an innovative Spring/Summer cocktail menu that draws on the decadent simplicity of the Victorian Era. With a conscious focus on intelligent mixing, quality alcohol, and fewer ingredients, the Fino Royal perfectly embodies the spirit of forgotten classic cocktails and will transport you back in time to the Belle Époque!

Recipe:
8-10 fresh strawberries
15ml Orgeat (Almond Syrup)
60ml Tao Pepe
Fino Sherry
Louis Roederer Champagne

Muddle ingredients except Champagne. Shake and strain into chilled highball glass. Top with Champagne and garnish with fresh raspberry and lemon twist.

The Caves, Jamaica
The Cliffhanger
Cliff jumping at The Caves in Jamaica leaves even the most daring of guests parched at the end of a hot, sunny day. Spiked with fresh watermelon juice, ginger, Appleton Rum, and topped with Blackwell Rum, the famous Cliffhanger drink is the perfect summer thirst-quencher for adrenaline junkies everywhere!

Recipe:
fresh watermelon juice
ginger
Appleton Rum
Blackwell Rum

Fill glass with ice. Mix equal parts Appleton Rum and Blackwell Rum and add to glass. Top with fresh watermelon juice and ginger.

Blue Duck Tavern & Lounge at the Park Hyatt D.C.
Spritz Milano
The Spritz Milano at the Blue Duck Tavern & Lounge is absolutely one reason for the restaurant’s A-list status. Made with Maschio Prosecco , Aperol, and fresh slices of orange, the revitalizing cocktail evokes an Italian glamour that keeps the crowd coming back for more.

Recipe:
1 oz. Aperol
3 oz. Maschio Prosecco
1 cup club soda
1 fresh orange slice

Mix Aperol and Maschio Prosecco and pour in a glass of ice. Top off with club soda and a fresh orange slice.

Anantara Bophut Resort & Spa, Koh Samui, Thailand
Strawberry Madness
The sweet-tart flavor of fresh strawberries and the juniper-flavored spirit fuse perfectly in Anantara Bophut Strawberry Madness cocktail. The addition of lime and cranberry juices make this a fruity summer cocktail worth remembering!

Recipe:
gin
strawberry liqueur
fresh strawberries
lime juice
cranberry juice

Fill cocktail shaker with ice. Add gin, strawberry liqueur, and lime juice. Shake vigorously. Strain into cocktail glass and add ice from the shaker. Add a splash of cranberry juice. Garnish with fresh strawberries.

Known the world over as an industry leader, Guinot has consistently led the charge in everything from game-changing technology and techniques in skincare (they were the first to use actual DNA as a sun protection measure) to maintaining the most stringent high standards in the development and manufacturing of their products (they have achieved full ISO Certification in their laboratories). Today, Guinot’s meticulously honed collections of treatments and products, which include lines that focus on anti-aging, men, sun care, and specific issues like sensitive, distressed, and pigmented skin, are carried in over 1000 spas and salons within the US.

New products launched by Guinot this year include:

• Pure Balance Treatment Mask,  a matifying and purifying mask that doubles as a spot treatment
• Sérum Liftosome, an in-depth and intensive treatment for firming and regenerating that contains Pro Collagen and Evening Primrose oil, plus kiwi fruit extracts to reduce the appearance of wrinkles

Guinot Institut Paris is distributed in the US exclusively by Lachman Imports, which has offices and a full-service Guinot training center on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

To request further information, product samples, or to experience a Guinot treatment for editorial consideration, please do not hesitate to contact Janet Reuter: janet@alicemarshall.com | 212.861.4031